Nomade Orquestra – Estremundos [FARO198]
jazz
Potter & Tillman – …Space…Rapture [HJLP002]
Reissue from this soul/jazz-funk fusion album originally released in 1982 on Poet Records. This sought-after album is an amazing and unique creative project produced and composed by David Eric Tillman including outstanding performances by some of the highest-level musicians whose common thread was their ability to kill up tempo and modal bop and excel in this jazz-funk/fusion style thanks to their up bop think quick knowledge.
Joao Donato & Seu Trio – Muito A Vontade [GB002LP]
Go! Bop! present a reissue of Joao Donato & Seu Trio’s Muito À Vontade, originally released in 1962. Joao Donato is a legend of Brazilian jazz and Latin music and this is his legendary debut album. The well-skilled performance speaks of a great routine each musician has, but there is so much fire and hunger to be found within the compositions. The listener will experience rather relaxed slow jazz tunes with an obvious bossa nova groove and a leading piano that takes off from the backing rhythm of drums and standing bass. On the other hand, there are tunes with wicked piano staccato lines and a powerful rhythmic drive that is rooted in Latin music, but shoots forward on a ray of energy. The tunes are well composed and have a memorable structure that distinguishes them from the beginning free jazz hype back in the day. Joao Donato and his mates in the trio were jazzy boys, but they were also songwriters. Catchy melodies were as important as a great and skillful performance. The combination of both sides of jazz, and the crossover with Latin sounds, makes Muito À Vontade a special album, with other greats to follow. Muito À Vontade stands out as a landmark. If you feel that it is time for an equally relaxed, but exciting jazz record to enchant you, here you go. A sweet reissue of a classic from the early ’60s. Joao Donato and his trio play it rather smoothly but their passion hits you automatically after a short while listening. Even the slower tunes offer twists and turns that leave you feeling amazed.
Azymuth – Fenix [JD039]
A twelve-minute samba doido do-over by the Chicago house don, a long-time fan. ‘A toughened groove and gorgeous swirls of synth and pad embellishments, as Ron’s remix takes Azymuth’s futuristic disco even deeper.’
Riz Ortolani – Si Puo’ Essere Piu’ Bastardi Dell’ispettore Cliff? [FLIES023]
Previously unreleased full edition for this explosive jazz-funk score by Italian Maestro Riz Ortolani, created in 1973 for the crime-movie Si può essere più bastardi dell’ispettore Cliff’ (also known as Mafia Junction’). Only two tracks from this OST were published at the time in a now extremely rare C.A.M. 7-inch, but that was enough to create the legend. Four Flies had access to the original C.A.M. master tapes, so to present here the complete session for the first time. Just expect one of the funkiest piece of the whole Ortolani’s career: car chases, sex scenes, vicious kills are served here by amazing drum breaks, fat bass lines, captivating horn section and wonderful guitar effects. Totally outstanding session, and a real new classic for all crime-funk lovers.
Fontän – Fontän [HNRLP010]
There are many ways for a band or an artist to compile an album: some make it in a week and some let the process go on longer. The latter approach does often mean that that the record will not be better than had it been recorded and mixed within a short amount of time, rather the contrary. However, there are those albums that just could not be made within in a week or a month, those compilation of songs that needed the time to melt together to form an album. Fontän’s third album titled ‘Fontän’, released on Hoga Nord Rekords is that kind of an album. Put the opening track ‘Mangsebung’ on, then stay with the record until the closer ‘Shadows’ rings out and you will go clear, sharp, and mildly messed up by the listening experience because this is an extremely well directed trip in mind-altering music! This album needed time to reach such heights. With Johan Melin’s and Jesper Jarold’s love for music and non-sentimental creative approach, this album proves that the band never gets hung up on trying to sound like the past masters, but to develop what they once started.
VA – Ethiopiques Box [HS164VL]
If you’ve been digging the brilliant Ethiopiques series of compilations, which shine a light on the lesser-known Ethiopian music scene of the 1960s and ’70s, you’ll love this lavishly produced box set. Put together by series founder Francis Falceto, the box boasts fresh pressings of six impossible-to-find 7″ singles and a booklet containing extensive liner notes. The musical treats come thick and fast, quickly jumping between evocative Ethiopian jazz, unique fusions of rhythm and blues and traditional East African styles, Hammond-heavy groovers and exotic dancefloor workouts that defy easy categorization. Includes tracks from great Ethiopian artists like : Mulatu Astatke, Girma Beyene, Mahmoud Hamed, Getatchew Mekuria, Tilahun Gessesse.
Spiral Deluxe – Tathata [AX074]
Spiral Deluxe is a band led by Jeff Mills. Initially formed for the performances in Japan (Tokyo/Kobe) and released “Kobe Sessions” EP (AX070) last year, they gathered again in October 2016 for European tour, when they named themselves as Spiral Deluxe. This record is live recordings from that tour and will be our 2nd series of “Axis Audiophile Series” with HD sound.
Move D & Thomas Meinecke – On The Map [OMLP12]
The long-standing partnership of Moufang and Meinecke hit album number five with On The Map. A conceptual piece comprising five tracks that explore and celebrate black music and cultural history in five neighbourhoods across America, we’re treated to an arresting blend of found sounds and motifs across the deliciously slo-mo soundscapes. From the coastal blues of “Norfolk” and the darker, paranoid twangs and unease of “Washington DC” and “Watts” to the strutting space bound “Houston” and jazz blasts of “East St Louis”, this could be M & M’s best trip to date.
Alessandro Alessandroni – Afro Discoteca [FLIESDJ001]
Four Flies Records is back in full force, this time with an EP that looks at the more sophisticated and modern dancefloor… The Italian label embarked on another journey of rediscovery, a specialty they seem to master. The destination of this trip was a dusty vault in Africa, where a famous Italian musician moved years ago… The Italian film and TV industry provided in the 60s and 70s countless opportunity for talented musicians to compose and produce a rich variety of music: soundtracks, library music, experimental music – an infinite amount of recordings that still represents a paradise for the most curious and passionate diggers. So here we have the proof that there’s still lot to discover. Alessandro Alessandroni is one of those pioneers, a maestro that built the legend of Italian soundtracks and library music along with Ennio Morricone, Piero Umiliani and many others. His vault testifies how prolific had been those times, with hundreds of tapes and obscure recordings from that period. Among the many, a dusty tape bearing the hand-written label “Afro Discoteca” captured the attention of Four Flies. The music contained in the tape had never been released until now.
Shankar Jaikishan – Raga Jazz Style [OTR001]
Never before reissued, this legendary 1968 EMI recording is a revered Indian jazz rarity; a collectors’ holy grail. Raga Jazz Style is an original Indian excursion into Indo-jazz fusion. A one-away recording from the almost unknown Bombay jazz scene, it is among the few jazz LPs to hail from the subcontinent. Raga Jazz Style takes the melodic, scale-based raga system of Indian classical music and marries it with a swinging jazz rhythm section assembled by Bollywood’s most highly acclaimed musical directors, the soundtrack composing duo Shankar Singh and Jaikishan Panchal. Singh and Panchal were a dominant force in Hindi film music from the late 1940s onwards. Shankar had been trained in classical tabla, while Jaikishan was an expert harmonium player. They worked together on well over a hundred films, and their innovative compositions and orchestral scoring revolutionised the music of the nascent Bollywood industry.
Hieroglyphic Being & The Truth Theory Trio – Materialized Psychism Of The Bottomless Void [LMD018]
2017 marks 10 years of Lick My Deck and we are very excited to welcome one of Chicago’s finest and one of electronic music’s most singular visionary artists to the family: Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being. Jamal teams up with “The Truth Theory Trio” to deliver the “Materialized Psychism Of The Bottomless Void” EP. “Long Night Of Iboga” opens the EP and sees Jamal & The Trio create a DJ focused cut with unpredictable drum patterns, abstract melodies and psychedelic horns. A killer weapon for any seasoned selector. “Mystery Of The Changelings” is a mesmerizing 11 minute odyssey through magical harps, melancholic synths, and a piano riff that will stay with you long after listening. Truly music for the mind, body & soul. Praise be to The Sun God.
Mike Collins – Lost Tapes 1983-1989 [MIC001]
New label MIC launches with some previously unreleased and unheard material from UK DIY jazz funk maverick, Mike Collins, better known as the brains behind the spacey Loft classic, Sun Palace – ‘Rude Movements’. MIC presents a small archive of Collins’ material (recorded around the time of ‘Rude Movements’) and reveals the more experimental side of Collins’ production. Five tracks that explore early, proto-house music, electro, and fascinating drum machine observation.
South African Jazz selected & compiled by Antal
VA – Africa Airways Three: The Afro Psych Excursion 1972-1984 [ASVN030]
The Africa Seven label might not have been around for very long, but the London-Paris dynasty has certainly established itself as a no.1 outlet for rare, unhinged world music. This is Africa Airways Volume 3: The Afro-Psych Excursion, a gorgeous compilation spanning the years 1972 to 1984, and it clearly offers some of the most magnetic tunes that they label has put out thus far. There isn’t a mediocre song in here and, as the saying goes, it’s all-killer-no-filler; take African Black’s “Nzango”, for example, a twisted, FX-heavy tribal experiment, or the more soulful highs and lows of tunes like “Zinabu” by Bunzu Soundz. Rough, dusty, completely psyched-out, and inimitable the whole way through; if you’re looking for something that’ll get the heads turning, and the diggers jealous, then this is your LP.
John Scott – Fragment (Soundtrack) [MVMEP001]
‘Fragment’ is a new instalment from Moscovitch Music composed by veteran English Jazz saxophonist/flautist – John Scott. This EP is almost a companion piece to Scott’s rare Columbia Lansdowne LP ‘Communication’ (1967), a firm Gilles Peterson favourite, with its Conga-tastic version of Ellington’s ‘Caravan’. For fans of filmic UK Jazz this release is a real gem, and there are strong musical connections to the 60s American ‘Third Stream’, Dorothy Ashby, France’s Michel Magne and Francois de Roubaix and of course our own talented composers like Tubby Hayes, Graham Collier and Neil Ardley. ‘Ride in a Pontiac’ with its driving bongo rhythm is pure Spy-Jazz (Courtesy of KPM Drummer Barry Morgan) – Remarkably similar in feel to tracks from the legendary ‘All Night Long’ (which also featured John Scott alongside friends such as Tubby Hayes and Johnny Dankworth). ‘Night of Love’ is an evocative mood piece, pensive yet gentle, with an air of Miles Davis’s smoky ‘L’Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud score while ‘Waiting/Revelation’ begins with a lonely Flute motif which erupts into a percussive hard bop workout worthy of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers!
Duke Hugh – Canvas [RS016]
Bradley Zero met Duke Hugh in Amsterdam, when he handed him a green USB stick after a show. He played the promos in the empty club and the first track immediately grabbed his attention – he knew it was something special. When he remembered the hook to Green Leaf the next morning he signed the release almost instantly. Each song has its own essence, there is absolutely no filler and the entire double pack sits together as a perfect whole. Flirting with aspects of broken beat, Jazz, hip hop and dreamy electronica – Duke Hugh winds together a most idiosyncratic release equally at home on the peak time dancefloor as it would be for a long road trip. Canvas is a big statement from an artist who’s here to stay.
William Antonini – William Antonini E La Sua Orchestra [SME026]
Very rare’cult’ Library album by maestro William Antonini and his orchestra recorded with the deep sounds of Dirmaphon studios in Rome. Very small Library and Orchestra production by the pianist Antonini during his career as session man, this is the unique long-playing we have and for sure a lost collectible gem. Excellent studio orchestra arranged by the maestro. Expect some strong Blues Rock influences with loads of Killer Psychedelic sounds all over the place / amazing Jazz-Funk and Blues Funk vibes / heavy Progressive riffs with Big Band Swinging Jazz and Jazz-Rock tunes / huge bassline with stoned flute and deep Tenor sax / amazing early ’70s Freakbeat clubbing tunes
Jimi Tenor – Saxentric [HRKL005LP]
Jimi Tenor has compiled a selection of afro jazz tracks that he has written and performed over the years with musicians Icelandic drummer, Helgi Svavar Helgason, Helsinki based guitarist/bassist and journalist Ilkka Mattila, legendary drummer Tony Allen, Cuban & Berlin based trumpeter Daniel Allen Oberto, Ethiopian/Finnish & Helsinki based percussionist Abdissa ‘Mamba’ Assefa (Itetune), Nigerian/German & Berlin based percussionist Akinola Famson, Helsinki based percussionist Mongo Aaltonen, American & Paris based spoken word artist/singer & painter Allonymous, Helsinki based flügelhornist Tero Lindberg, Finnish & Berlin based guitarist Kalle Kalima, Polish & Berlin based bassist Patrick Frankowski, British trombonist Hilary Jeffery and Ghanaian/German & Berlin based drummer Ekow Alabi Savage. Jimi Tenor, born Lassi Osmo Tapio Lehto in Lahti, Finland, who has been releasing recorded music for 30 years, plays several instruments as is his usual practice. He is credited for playing on the upcoming release Saxentric; acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, background vocals, bass kalimba, drums, drum programming, electric guitar, electric piano, flute, Hammond organ, Korg MS-20, Korg PolySix, Log-o-phone, Moog, organ, percussion, Photophone, plastic bongos, programming, shaker, synthesizers, tambourine, tenor saxophone, vocals and Walton organ.
Roy Ayers – The Funk and Soulful Side Of Roy Ayers [MUKAT048]
Mukatsuku sets up the ongoing winter months with a couple of hot dance floor burners of gems from the legendary vibes master, Mr Roy Ayers. First up an monster club instrumental in the shape of ‘Funk In The Hole’ with driving driving electronic keys accompanied by a funky breakbeat ,brass stabs and strings. On the slipside is the sultry personification of sexy soulfulness that is ”Liquid Love” …;..Both tracks issued here for the first time on a single in their own right.
